Linux Live USB Creator isn't another 'me-too' utility
At first glance Linux Live USB Creator looks much like UNetbootin, theUniversal USB Installer, and every other tool that aims to help you download and create a bootable Linux environment for your PC. And as those existing tools are generally very good it’s not immediately obvious why we might need another.
Take a closer look at the Linux Live USB Creator and you’ll see it’s not just another “me too” utility, though -- the program really does have enough features and functionality to stand up against the best of the rest.
CyberLink Media Suite 10 Ultra review
CyberLink makes some great media software -- PowerDirector is probably the best consumer video editor available today -- but, unsurprisingly, for the most part it isn’t a cheap date. Equipping yourself with the company’s media player, media manager and video editor alone will cost you almost $170, for instance, and that’s before you’ve even thought about disc authoring, file format conversion and other desirable functions.
Fortunately CyberLink does offer a more cost-effective alternative in the shape of Media Suite 10. This bundles 11 CyberLink packages together, which makes them vastly cheaper: Media Suite 10 Ultra is $129.95 for the complete set, and if you opt for the Pro build instead (more on that later) then it can be yours for only $99.95.
DensityScout sniffs out malware in compressed files
You think your PC is infected by something dangerous, but your regular antivirus package hasn’t raised any alerts. So what now?
This is a question we cover fairly often here. Only last week we reported on the latest version of Mandiant Redline, which will scan your system’s executables and highlight those most likely to be malware. Now, CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) Austria has come up with another small contribution in DensityScout; it’s not for PC novices, but if you’re an expert computer user then you could find the program very helpful indeed.
Want more from Firefox 12? Try Pale Moon or Waterfox
If you were unimpressed by the fairly unexciting appearance of Firefox 12 last week, then today does at least bring some browsing alternatives by way of the performance-optimized spinoff projects, Pale Moon 12 and Waterfox 12. And although the lack of additions to the broader code base means they’re both essentially maintenance releases, there is still some interesting news here.
Pale Moon 12 notably has not moved to a silent install method, for instance, which means it won’t provide the maintenance service. The developer tells us there are several reasons for this, not least “the fact that Pale Moon has always been in favor of giving users the choice when and where to download and install an update to what is for most people the heart of their on-line experience”.
When your AVI is corrupt, try DivXRepair
It only takes a little damage to corrupt an AVI movie. Some tweaked bits here, maybe a few missing bytes there, and suddenly you may find the picture breaks up at one point, or maybe the video will no longer play at all.
DivXRepair could offer a simple solution, though. Just launch this compact portable tool, add your broken video, click the Repair button, and in theory at least that’s it. There’s no need to worry about keyframes or other technicalities -- the program will scan your video, skip any bad frames, and try to save everything else in a “fixed” version of the movie (the original will remain untouched).
CyberLink debuts Media Suite 10
Today, CyberLink released Media Suite 10, which combines eleven of the company’s most powerful applications into a hugely comprehensive multimedia bundle.
PowerDVD 12 is a very capable media player, for instance. Power2Go 8 caters for all your disc burning needs. MediaShow 6 is an excellent media management tool, and PowerDirector 10 is arguably the best consumer video editor available today.
Microsoft releases Security Essentials 4
Microsoft has released Security Essentials 4.0, the latest version of its lightweight, straightforward antivirus package.
The bulk of the changes this time are under the hood. MSE’s “Automatic Remediation” now does a better job of quarantining threats on its own, for instance, no user intervention required. And Microsoft claims scanning performance and malware detection rates have both improved on the previous build.
Mandiant Redline uncovers malware other apps won't
If your PC gets attacked by some previously discovered specimen of malware then it’s relatively easy to spot. Your antivirus package will scan the new file on access, realize there’s a match for something in its virus database, and the threat will be quarantined immediately, before any real damage can be done.
If you’re attacked by some brand new specimen, though, it’s a very different story. Every antivirus package claims it can also detect new threats by behavior alone, but this is vastly more difficult: there’s a good chance that it’ll be missed. And so if you think your system might have been compromised, then it’s a good idea to get a little third-party scanning help from the free Mandiant Redline.
Enigma Virtual Box turns complex applications into portable, single executables
The typical large application will have a rather complex structure. There might be DLLs, OCXs and other executable components, data files and more, all scattered across a potentially very large number of subfolders: not necessarily very convenient.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Point Enigma Virtual Box at an application and it’s able to combine all the program’s components and data files into a single module. This is compressed, so can greatly reduce the disk space required for a program. And if you’re a software developer, then the process does a very good job of protecting your components from misuse. (The files are unpacked in RAM, never written to disc, so it becomes much more difficult for others to take your DLLs, OCXs, images, audio files and any other elements of your application.)
Easy Clean better protects, connects to F-Secure cloud
F-Secure has released an updated version of its stand-alone antivirus detector, Easy Clean.
The new build is smaller than previous releases at under 4MB. You can scan your system just by launching the executable; no installation is required. But most usefully, Easy Clean now contacts F-Secure’s cloud-based servers to obtain details about the very latest threats, so there’s no need for it to download regular updates. (Although, of course, this does also mean that you now must have a fully functional Internet connection for Easy Clean to be of any use.)
IObit Advanced SystemCare adds antivirus protection
PC maintenance specialist IObit has released the first public beta of Advanced SystemCare with Antivirus 2012. Which, as you’ll guess from the name, not only now caters to all your PC maintenance needs, but also includes a full antivirus package as well.
The beta takes a dual-engine approach to protecting your PC, using both IObit and BitDefender technology to detect and block threats. And essentially it provides all the features you’d expect from a basic antivirus package. So you can run quick, full or custom scans; a simple scheduler allows you to configure scans to run automatically; and conveniences like a Silent Mode reduce unnecessary alerts when you’re playing games or other full-screen applications.
Track programs' progress with Tell When Done
When you’ve set up your PC to carry out some lengthy task -- transcode a host of videos, say -- it can be useful to know when it’s finished. But unfortunately not every program bothers to make this obvious, which means you might regularly find yourself manually monitoring progress windows in an effort to keep an eye on what’s going on.
Sounds familiar? Then you may like to try Tell When Done, a tiny portable tool which aims to provide the progress alert which some programs are missing.
Regain your online privacy with Spotflux
If you’re looking to maintain your privacy online then you could sign up for a VPN service. But which one? There’s a lot of choice, and if you’re a networking novice then figuring out which service is right for you can be a real challenge.
But that’s where Spotflux comes in. This interesting new VPN service comes packed with useful functionality --- encryption, ad-blocking, antivirus and more -- yet really couldn’t be any easier to configure.
NovaBACKUP 13 improves disaster recovery
NovaStor has released NovaBACKUP 13, the latest edition of its flagship backup suite. And the big news this time comes in some major additions to the program’s Disaster Recovery abilities. NovaBACKUP now supports full, incremental and differential drive imaging, for instance, which should deliver significant performance improvements for most people.
The program now allows you to access individual files and folders within an image, as well as restoring the entire backup. The Windows PE-based boot disc provides a familiar environment to recover your system, should disaster strike. The program can now recover a disc image to another PC with different hardware.
Mistakenly type LIKE THIS? Try CapsUnlocker
It’s a common keyboard annoyance: you’ve pressed the Caps Lock key, either not realized or just forgotten about it, and then typed a whole line of text IN THE WRONG CASE, or maybe wondered why a website password hasn’t been recognized, before you’ve noticed. Sounds familiar? Then you might be interested in CapsUnlocker, a new tool that can help in a variety of ways.
At its simplest you can use the program as a Caps Lock status indicator, handy if you don’t have one already. (It’s surprisingly configurable, too -- you can choose the icon to display when the key is on or off.) You might disable Caps Lock entirely by choosing the relevant right-click option from CapsUnlocker’s system tray icon.
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